Szass Tam *Completed*

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The challenge is making skin free form. The character has this droopy looking black and steel looking skin. Since I've never done this before I had to come up with something. I dont like to google stuff to see how someone else came up with a solution. While that's cool that they figured it out, the fun for me is working the problem myself. Also, people in general are a down note when it comes to solutions. It's "that can't be done" and "you can't do this and let me tell you a million reasons why" however I've learned that the naysayers that rattle on of what can't be done have never actually tried it.

My stubborn approach to making my own mistakes is my on the fly coaching moment. It's in our mistakes we found our successes.

What you're looking at is what I came up with.

I brushed on the latex, hit it with the heat gun to give it some skin like you're bruleeing a merange for a pie.

Then I coated the whole thing in corn starch while it was still snotted up with latex but very wet and gooey under the top layer.

Next I slapped like a Cosplay pimp. This splattered out the latex, but then the corn starch grabbed it and made this boogery mess of all over the place mini flaps of latex.

I was very surprised to get what I was going for on the first attempt.

since my wife pointed out the face was tilted and I had to peel the face off and correct it, I found that the cellphone camera told more truth than my eyes did. Dont know why, and it may not be true for the rest of the world but it is for me. So I'm rolling with it.

Armed with iPhone sorcery, as I used my hands to paint of latex details I from time to time snapped off a shot. Mostly to keep the screen from dimming, but we'll say it's to take build shots too.

This is where mother nature was kind. It's Minnesota, the weather here is bipolar. There wasn't rain or ice or any other October weather weirdness. Also no leaves hit it sitting on the back of my truck. This was the toothy grin of the cosplay gods smiling down.

What you're looking at is the mask with all it's skin layers that I made with my corn starch and pimp slap technology as well as me taking latex, dumping it on my hand and letting it partly dry, then slap it onto the flowey skin to finish out the depth.

I used that whole 32 ounce bottle of Ben Nye latex, and much like someone who gorges themselves on pie, I have no regrets... today.

That's what was going through my head as I started to slobber this thing down in plasti-dip rubber. Which I hope isnt the cancer catalyst, because I'm wearing this crap next week.

With the waivey skin under and then my thin hand sheets or whatever you want to call it layers, I think it flows over well and tells the story I want to tell. Now that the black is in place it's all starting to come together and to my surprise, actually spot on to what I'm going for!

Also I want to say at this point, past my profound appreciation moment for the sculpting lesson dudes experience, there was this moment of "wow" where I can see this is doing exactly what I wanted and I'm really glad the mold didnt work out. As far as I know I came up with something on my own, and this is mine. I'm sure someone else did it, somewhere some time probably a billion years ago, but I dont care. Under my rock, this was my invention.

my last details the silver. I used the black plasti dip as my black and then I highlighted it by painting on the silver with water and a shop rag.

I'm very very happy with the detail.

Now to hurry up and wait.

The paint has to cure. I havent trimmed it in the eye sockets which are still floppy and flubbery. Not my first rodeo using plastidip as a coating. While it says X amount of time to dry, that's to dry for whatever the actual use of this stuff is for. In the cosplay world I find give it a few days to sit, that will take away some of that awful smell and give it time to humble itself to what it's sitting on.

I've never painted it over latex before, super interested how that's going to fly on Halloween.

My next steps, gloves.

Since it's Minnesota out already, Szass Tam's little nubs need to be filled with the warms. I dont want to stand outside handing out candy cold, and I want the hands to be a detail if that's a thing on camera. So I need to make gloves next.

I started watching the tattoo videos and realized that I could use what I’m learning to help me on my arm!

during the head I figured out that I could lay latex like I’m decorating a cake, and lay the graphics on parchment.

since the dude in the dude in the tatto videos mentioned the ball method it clicked that’s what I was missing so I drew the arm map on the parchment and laid the latex on it so when I apply it to my arm day of I can know where it goes. Basically registration marks

Before heading to the office I started to layer what latex I have left, and I’m having to use the hands and arms I made Saturday. Everywhere around here that I know of is out of latex so I’m improvising